THE RAE TABLE OF EARTH SATELLITES 1957-1986 THE RAE TABLE OFEARTH SATELLITES 1957-1986 compiled at The Royal Aircraft Establishment, Famborough, Hants, England by D.G. King-Dele, FRS, D.M.C. Walker, PhD, J.A. Pilkington, BSc, A.N. Winterbottom, H. Hiller, BSc and G.E. Perry, MBE The Table is a chronological list of the 2869 launches of satellites and space vehicles between 1957 and the end of 1986, giving the name and international designation of each satellite and its associated rocket(s), with the date of launch, lifetime (actual or estimated), mass, shape, dimensions and at least one set of orbital parameters. Other fragments associated with a launch, and space vehicles that escape from the Earth's influence, are given without details. Including fragments, more than 17000 satellites appear in the 893 pages of the tabulation, and there is a full Index. M TOCKTON S P R E S S © Crown copyright 1981, 1983, 1987 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 3rd edition 1987 978-0-333-39275-1 Published by permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. Published in the United States and Canada by STOCKTON PRESS, 1987 15 East 26th Street, New York, N.Y. 10010 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The R.A.E. table of earth satellites, 1957-1986. Rev. ed. of: The RAE table of earth satellites, 1957- 1980. 2nd ed. 1981. 1. Artificial satellites- Registers. I. King-Hele, Desmond G. II. Royal Aircraft Establishment (Great Britain) III. RAE Table of earth satellites, 1957-1982. IY. Title: RAE Table of earth satellites, 1957-1986. TL796.6. E2R2531987 629.46'0216 87-10204 ISBN 978-0-935859-05-8 First published 1981, second edition 1983, third edition 1987 by MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS LTD (Journals Division) Distributed by Globe Book Services Ltd Canada Road, Byfleet, Surrey KT14 7JL, England British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data The RAE table of earths satellites 1956-1986. -3rded. 1. Artificial satellites - Tables I. King-Hele, D.B. II. Royal Aircraft Establishment III. The RAE table of earth satellites, 1957-1986 629.47 TL796 ISSN 0265-3931 ISBN 978-1-349-07995-7 ISBN 978-1-349-07993-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-07993-3 1 INTRODUCTION HOW THE T,ABLE BEGAN AND GREW When the first satellite Sputnik 1 was launched on 4 October 1957, scientists at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, had already made several studies of Earth satellites and their orbits, stemming from work earlier in the 1950s on the ballistic missile Blue Streak and the Skylark research rocket. Wi.thin a few days of its launching, Sputnik 1 was being regularly tracked by a radio interferometer constructed at the RAE's outstation at Lasham, Hampshire. The satellite's orbit was determined from these observations, and the observed decay rate was used to evaluate upper-atmosphere density. The work was described in an article published in Nature on 9 November 1957 (Volume 180, pages 937-941). On 3 November 1957, Sputnik 2 was launched, and the need for a regular prediction service was recognized. Initially the service was provided by the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux, and was taken over by the RAE in January 1958. The first US satellite Explorer 1 was launched on 1 February 1958, to be follmved by Vanguard 1 and Explorer 3 during March, and Sputnik 3 in May. Soon there were numerous requests for a list of satellites, and Doreen Walker, who was responsible for providing the predictions, compiled the first RAE Table of satellites - a single sheet - in July 1958. From these small beginnings the Table has 'just growed', the original format being retained almost unchanged, apart from conversion to metric units. Very few copies of this 'first edition' still exist, so a facsimile of the original sheet, slightly reduced in size, is printed on page ii. From the beginning it was apparent that there would be little information available on the sizes, shapes and masses of the many Russian rockets in orbit, and the decision was taken to make rough estimates of the size and shape from visual observations, and then to deduce the mass from the observed orbital decay rate and the (by then) known upper-atmosphere density. This policy has been pursued ever since, and the estimates have been improved over the years as more information became available. Since 1957 the RAE has specialized in the analysis of satellite orbits to determine upper-atmosphere density and winds, and the Earth's gravitational field. ~· ~· TABLE OF ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES Orbital Orbital Perigee Apogee Orbital Angle from Apex Inclina- Period Height Height Eccen- to Perigee Launch date Shape and Size Date Name and Lifetime Weight tion tricity ( deg.) (min.) (n.m.) (n.m.) (deg.) 122 0.052 Sputnik 1 1957a2 ~957 Oct. 4.90 Sphere 23" dia. 1957 Oct. 4.90 65 96.2 512 - 39 ir~trumen~ed sphere ? 92 days 184 lb. 1957 Oct. 25.8 65 95.4 ' Sputnik 1 1957a1 1957 Oct. 4.90 C<Jlinder? - 1957 oct. 4.90 65 96.2 122 512 0.052 - 39 rocket 57.1 deys - 1957 Nov. 19.00 65 92.0 ' 1957 Nov. 4.00 65.33 103.760 122 902 0.0987 - 31 Sputnik 2 1957 f3 1957 Nov. 3.19 - - I 161.9 days - 1958 Jan. 4.00 65.29 100.505 119 739 0.0802 - 55 ' 1958 Feb. 21.00 65.26 97.105 114 570 o.o605 - 76 1958 Mar. 25.00 65.23 93.785 107 402 0.(400 - 91 1958 Apr. 9.00 65.21 90.780 97 253 0.0214 - 98 Explorer 1 1958 ct 1958 Feb. 1.16 Cylinder 80" long 1958Feb. 1.16 33.2 114.8 199 1371 0.139 31 4 years 30.8 lb. 6" dia. r958 July 10.05 33.2 113.5 192 1318 0.134 33 2140 0.191 Vanguard 1 195~2 1958 Mar. 17,5 Sf here 6.4" dia. 1958 Mar. 17.5 34.3 134.1 353 - instrumented sphere 200 years? -'* lb. 1958 June 19.52 34.3 134.1 353 2136 0.190 92 2140 0.191 Vanguard 1 195~1 1958 llar. 1 7.5 Cylinder 4' long 1958 Har. 17.5 34.3 134.1 353 - rocket - 50 lb. 20" dia. I Explorer 3 1958Y 1958 Mar. 26.73 Cylinder 80" long 1958 H.ar. 26.73 33.3 115.7 101 1511 0.166 - 94 days 31 lb. 6" dia. 1958 Apr. 9.05 33.3 110.4 100 1251 0.140 - 1958 June 14.13 33.3 96.6 93 565 0.063 -124 122 1013 0.111 - 32 1 958 May 15.3 Cone 12.3' long ~958 1~ 15.3 65 105.985 Sputnik 3 1958S2 0.110 instrumented cone 2 years 2926 lb. 68" dia. 1958 June 5.7 65 105.700 122 1000 - 39 1958 July 9.2 65 105.300 122 979 0.107 - 50 12~ 1013 0.111 - 32 Sputnik 3 1958o1 1958 May 15.3 Cylinder'? - 1958 Hey 15.3 65 105.985 -40 rocket 7 months 1958 June 8.1 65 105.000 121 964 o.1o6 - - 2.2 1(4.000 121 914 0.100 -48 --- -- 11958 July 65 Notes: Oct. 4.90 means 21 hr. 36 min. G.M.T. on 4 Oct., 1 n.m. = 6080 ft. Perigee and apogee heights for Sputniks .are over an earth of radius 3435 n.m. The values for the Sputniks are from observations and theory. Those for the U.S. satellites have been ccmp:Ued fran a variety of sourt.-es, and there may be inconsistencies. Facsimile of the original issue of the Table iii This work depends on choosing satellites for observation, determining the orbits from the observations, and then analysing the orbits. In order to choose suit­ able satellites, a listing like that in the Table is needed, including reasonably accurate estimates of the satellite lifetimes. These lifetime estimates are vital, because it is no good selecting a satellite for long-term studies of the gravitational field, only to find that it decays within two years. Conversely, it is no good selecting a satellite for studies of atmospheric winds if no useful results can be obtained for thirty years or more. The estimation of lifetime has proved to be the most creative and difficult aspect of the Table. The orbits of most satellites are appreciably affected by the drag of the upper atmosphere, which makes the orbit contract and eventually brings the satellite to a fiery end in a plunge into the lower atmosphere. The lifetime is controlled by the upper-atmosphere density: if the density doubles, the lifetime will be halved. In fact, the density at a height of 500 km can be more than ten times greater at the maximum of the eleven-year sunspot cycle than at the minimum; and predictions of the intensity and timing of future sunspot maxima are notoriously unreliable. So it is very difficult to make good esti­ mates for lifetimes greater than 5 years. On a shorter timescale, problems arise from the day-to-night variation in density, by a factor of up to 6; from the semi-annual variation, by a factor of up to 3; and from irregular day-to-day variations. Also there are some satellites in highly eccentric orbits for which the lifetime is governed by the gravitational attraction of the Sun and Moon; lengthy computations are then needed, extending over the life of the satellite, perhaps 10 or 20 years.